(946) Regulus regulus tristis.
The Merv Goldcrest.
Regulus regulus Pleske, Bull. Acad. St. Petersb., iii, p. 146 (1882) (Merv).
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Similar to R. r. himalayensis but paler and greyer above and more grey, less fulvous, below.
Colours of soft parts apparently the same as in the other races.
Measurements. Wing 55 to 57 mm.; tail 40 to 41 mm.; tarsus about 17 mm.; culmen about 10 mm.
Distribution. Transcaspia, Tianschan, Samarkhand, Kashgar and possibly the Indian Frontier on the Afghanistan and Baluchistan boundary in Winter. Whitehead's breeding-birds were not, I think, of this race, but true himalayensis, though they are rather pale. A specimen from Quetta, shot in January, is, however,, much nearer tristis.
Nidification and Habits. Nothing recorded.
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